We arrived into Fethiye at 7am, tired from an uncomfortable and unfortunately smelly coach ride and filthy from the dusty adventurings of the day before. We had a few hours to kill so we took our weary bodies off to the local hamam and had our dirt scrapped off of us and our muscles pummelled – like the Anatolian wanderers that we are….
The lovely people at The Old Turkish Bath, Fethiye looked after us very well. Being so early in the morning it was like we had our own private hammam ~ winning, again!
Then we met Onur – our Airbnb host; writer, philosopher, goofball and soon to be friend. Throughout Turkey we’ve had such warm and generous receptions – the Turkish are the friendliest people. Onur became the embodiment of Turkish hospitality and he made our stay in Fethiye extra special, and for a week we settled into ‘home life’ and hung out with our new friend.
Settling into home for Ana means cooking which means stocking the fridge, whenever possible:
Coming from chilly, dusty, barren Cappadocia, arriving in Fethiye almost brought a change of seasons. The trees were lush with fresh leaves, the air slightly heavy and humid and the flowers, like wild wisteria were throwing out colour and scent everywhere we looked. Finally could this be the start of some warm weather? We hadn’t come that well prepared and had been wearing the only layers we had for a few weeks now. Ana cooks to make home. Pippa launders.
Onur and Pera (his beautiful rescue dog) took us on a morning’s bike ride through the countryside behind his house. We gently wove our way through tree lined paths, taking in woods, beaches and lakes – new landscapes for us in Turkey and decent time to relish in Onur’s banter!
On the bike ride we realised that it was 20th April, so we decided to meet later on the beach for sunset to celebrate #420 properly – according to Onur, Fethiye has the best sunsets in the world. It was a beautiful evening and it was also here where we discovered the ‘peanut fairies’ trapped in each and every peanut, phenomenal.
Amongst our deep and meaningful conversations about life, politics, Turkey’s history and peanut fairies, we also talked music – Discover Turkey has become our collaborative playlist with all the Turks we’ve met. Modern and old music all feature in this collection, with traditional Turkish instruments always featuring. We love it all, check it out!
Fethiye is a launch spot for many activities, historical sites, beaches and fun times – we dipped our toe in all of them…
We ran off a cliff – with varying levels of enjoyment between us, one of us was very laissez faire, while the other discovered a true fear of heights, 1200m up in the thin, thin air!
After our descent we went for our first dip in the sea at the stunning Ölüdeniz beach and calmed ourselves with some beers and a picnic ala ana. Finally, our white bodies saw the sun.
Then a quick walk through Saklıkent Canyon. A short walk into the canyon along an installed walkway we came to the juncture of 5 icy water rivers, some seeming to bubble fast, right out from the base of sheer rock face. Armed with our £4 Decathlon booties we had best intentions to continue up the canyon, further than any other tourist there dared to go. A huge waterfall was promised 1km up the river. We debated and deliberated. But the water was glacially cold and deeper than our shorts would have accommodated. Maybe we will return in the summer months, one day.
To level out our extreme activities we went to Tlos; ruins up in the mountains above the Xanthos river, a once thriving ancient Lycian city. A relatively new excavation site, it is less known and less restricted allowing you to freely roam in solitude amongst its palpable history. There are also ancient artefacts everywhere, from broken pottery to chunks of columns, and a surprising amount of structures still standing despite the fury of earthquakes over the years. Leering mountains extend the amphitheatre upwards on one side, while the drop of the valley creates a silhouetting backdrop of the ottoman fortress built from the carved stone left by the Greeks.
The site felt like an archaeologist playground as we were able to scrabble over the architectural marble and explore spaces that could not be far from their original feeling. It is easy to envisage the community here; there is the bathhouses, the shopping mall, the pool, the promenade, the running track, the theatre, the terraced houses, temples, tombs etc. Pippa dipped in the pool and not the first, nor the last time, we wished for a DeLorean (#backtothefuture).
Then that afternoon we walked through a settlement that was left to ruin just under a hundred years ago, Kayakoy. Perfectly situated in the lush mountainside, with the sea just visible down the valley, this town was abandoned by its Greek Orthodox inhabitants not out of choice but thanks to what is politely called the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923. 6,000 people were happily living here until then.
Fethiye for us felt like a week of fun and almost a mini holiday while travelling – perhaps it is no coincidence that is also the first time that alcohol flowed freely and cheaply. Also we had Onur to help us find fun, from our first night to our last night – şerefe!
